Accused pet store owner appears in court Wednesday

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A pet store owner who is facing more than $1 million in fines appeared in court Wednesday.

Bill Houston is accused of keeping hundreds of animals in deplorable conditions at the Fish Bowl Pet Shop.

Animal Care and Control seized nearly 400 dogs, birds, lizards and fish from the East Michigan Street business last week.

A judge ruled Houston could get all of his animals back if he is able to pay nearly $34,000 by Friday. If he’s unable to pay that bond, he will forfeit ownership to Animal Care and Control. Even if he’s able to pay by then, Houston will not be allowed to have any of the animals back until after his April 10 trial. The trial judge could also still rule that Houston can’t have the animals.

Animal Care and Control issued 581 citations to Houston following their investigation. They say they found dead fish lining the tops of aquarium tanks, animals lying in their own feces and sick and wounded lizards.

If convicted, Houston will face thousands of dollars in fines per violation.

“I don’t have any money, guess I’ll just go to jail,” Houston said as he entered the courthouse Wednesday.

Houston maintains he was trying to run a business that helped animals find loving homes. He also claims Animal Care and Control didn’t give him enough time to right the violations they had found in an earlier visit.

The Department of Code Enforcement will decide whether or not to revoke the pet shop’s license at a hearing Thursday.

animal lover

i like his pet shop i never saw the pet shop dirty i went to the shop for 20 years or more they need to look at the others stores 🙂 if u go to uncle bill u will be paying alot of money for animals thanks

ano

Truthi_ness

“I don’t have any money, guess I’ll just go to jail,” Houston said.

Good, you deserve to rot in a cage you piece of crap! The whole notion that you're just trying to help pets find a home means NOTHING if you're keeping them in horrid conditions. By the way, your "Boo hoo, woe is me, I got no money" argument sucks; maybe if you learned to man-up, accept that you were in over your head, and took responsbility for your business, you wouldn't be in this mess.

You're a failure of a person, and I'm glad you're getting punished for your lack of common sense! You deserve to lose your livelihood for the suffering you've caused!